Formative-semantic models of adjective compounds in English and Serbian


2017. №6, 42-64

Vladimir Ž. Jovanović
University of Niš, Niš, 18000, Serbia; vladimirz.jovanovic@filfak.ni.ac.rs

Abstract:

The paper is a comparative-contrasive analysis of the models or patterns of adjective compound formation in English and Serbian, two typologically different languages. As any sustainable attempt to establish similarities and differences between the two languages regarding lexeme formation processes would not be possible if one relied solely on the surface formal features of compounds, the comparison has been drawn between formative-semantic models of adjective compounds based on the internal relations within their underlying structure. The contrasting procedure has been performed on 32 different models established in English and 19 in Serbian. The entire idea is founded upon the assumption that compound lexical constructs are interpretable in terms of reduced clauses (in this particuar instance, adjectival clauses), an approach that could be traced back to the works of Lees, Ljung, Chomsky, Lieber, and others.